Rev. J.D. Morrison Goes to Georgia

by Rev. Chris Moore, Fellowship Congregational, Tulsa, OK

I had just arrived at Fellowship when my own kids’ interactions with church brought (once again) my attention to the need for a good Christian Education program. And I wasn't long after that realization when had a chance encounter with a friend from seminary, Rev. J.D. Morrison.  J.D. grew up on the south side of Chicago, deeply invested in the black Baptist tradition and, having graduated from Wichita State and Phillips Seminary, he and his family were here in Tulsa where J.D. served a local Baptist church.  Now, while I don't believe in a providential God who pulls all the strings, I also don't believe in random chance.  Our meeting was a “God thing.”  I was looking for a CE Director, and J.D. was looking for a place to expand his theology and vision.  The Holy wove our paths together.

Many years later the Morrison family are treasured members of Fellowship, and not just because of the work J.D. does as CE Director, and not only because they are a beautiful and wonderful family, but because they have fully embraced this church, they have expanded our horizons as much as we have expanded theirs, and we're all the better for this connection.  It's amazing what can happen when you trust that still, small voice that tells you which fork in the road to take.

3 years ago, J.D. took another chance to expand himself by joining the Air National Guard as a military chaplain.  He works at the base here in Tulsa where he is the only open & affirming chaplain on the premises.  In fact, to his knowledge, he is the only “O&A” chaplain in the state of Oklahoma, and one of a few in the nation, despite the fact that our military is, from a legal perspective, open to all who would serve.

Rev. Morrison leaves soon for a two-week deployment in Savannah, Georgia, where he will fill in for other chaplains on holiday leave.  He was asked, in part, because he is an affirming chaplain, at a base with an LGBTQ+ population, and also to participate in a ONE mission.  J.D. is “O&A,” in part, because of his experiences in this local chapter of the UCC, Fellowship Congregational, his home church.  We are a part of a larger story of an inclusive Christianity, this pinch of leaven in the loaf, this small but mighty story of how you truly cannot change the world, but neither are you free from your obligation to do what you can, where you are, with what you have.

We send Rev. Morrison with our prayers, and our love.